How to become an Official Member of the VMY, “The Promise” Dear Members of the Vincentian Marian Youth Association (VMY) It is a great pleasure for me to place in your hands these four presentations related to a very important theme of our Association: the Marian Consecration. We, together with the members of the International Council of the VMY, have been involved in this work for some time. We have also relied on the collaboration of various members of the Congregation of the Mission. The first two processes are very important with regard to your immediate preparation and your necessary formation for said consecration. Thus the first presentation, “Live our Baptismal Commitment”, seeks to deepen, from a scriptural perspective, your understanding of this consecration which you make to Mary and also seeks to help you reflect on this consecration as it is related to your baptismal commitment. As we know, any consecration to Mary means a greater commitment to her Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, the first presentation focuses on the Word of God and examines Mary’s role from the perspective of her commitment to her Son … various significant events in her life are reflected upon as they relate to the life of Jesus. At its deepest level, consecration is a consecration of love, a profound love that is offered to God, to his Son, Jesus Christ, and to Mary. As a result of this we offer the same love to our neighbor which, in our particular situation as members of the Vincentian Family, is a love toward the poor, our lords and masters. The second process, “My personal plan for life”, will help you reflect on and deepen the consecration that you profess to the Virgin Mary from the very depths of your being, from the depths of your humanity, from what makes you a human person, from the true meaning of life that results from this commitment that is made to God and to the neighbor. Beginning with the text of the Angel’s announcement to Mary and her response as a model for our response, this presentation, through a series of questions, leads us to a better understanding of this step that you are taking, a step that is a “yes” to a commitment that you, as a young man or young woman, are making as a member of this Association. At the end of this presentation it is hoped that you will clearly know how to live this consecration in light of your own plan for life. The third and fourth processes will help you to reflect on and deepen your understanding of the process that follows your consecration. The third presentation: “Evaluation of Our Journey within the Association”, invites you, from the perspective of the Word of God, to evaluate your life within the Association and to do this in light of your experience of your relationship with God and Mary and Catherine Laboure and the other saints who share our Vincentian spirituality. In this presentation you are also invited to engage in this evaluation in light of the characteristics proper to the Association, namely its notes which are: ecclesial, lay, Vincentian, Marian as well as other aspects proper to the formation process. The Marian Promise is a great gift and treasure that God gifts to us through the Virgin Mary. Therefore it is necessary that we evaluate how we are using this gift and treasure as we journey through our life as members of this Association. The fourth process, “Renew your Marian Consecration”, is intended to help you understand that your consecration is not a singular event that is completed on the day that you profess it … rather it is an event in which you make a lifelong commitment, one that you constantly renew. We are called to live, to contemplate, to love and to serve God with Mary and in the manner that Mary did all of this. Renewal occurs through deep contemplation and prayer that helps us to live, in all its fullness, the blessings that God has bestowed upon us. Once again the Word of God helps us to walk firmly in the midst of the difficulties and the “deserts” of our life and give a continual “yes” throughout our life. Once again I encourage you to value this document which is placed in your hands. It is an instrument that will help us to be faithful to the option which we have made during our life and that is reflected in the consecration that we have professed. Above all else it is an instrument that leads us to live our Christian faith from the perspective of our Marian identity and to serve our sisters and brothers, the poor, in a Vincentian manner and as members of the Vincentian Marian Youth Association. Gregory G. Gay, C.M. Director General Marian Promise Processes